Customer donations will help area stores support a monument commemorating fallen soldiers from the area

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. Jan. 31, 2012 – All eight Macomb County BIGGBY COFFEE stores are helping to raise money for the Heart of America Memorial, which will honor local veterans who lost their lives after 9/11 and during the Global War on Terrorism.

Each of the stores will sell paper “icons” for a minimum of $1 beginning on Feb. 1. Customers can purchase these icons, inscribe them with a personal message and display them inside the stores. All funds generated will go towards the construction of the 9-foot monument, which will be placed outside the Macomb County Administration building in Mount Clemens.

Phil Randazzo, a Vietnam Veteran and the current Shelby Township Veteran Affairs event coordinator, said he and his wife, Norma, first decided they wanted to design and construct the monument in 2004 to honor those killed in action that otherwise may be forgotten.

“Our goal is to make sure that soldiers who lost their lives in combat have a place where they are honored and remembered right here in their community where their family and friends still live,” Randazzo said. “With the help of BIGGBY and the rest of our community, we plan to make that happen by completing the monument by Memorial Day 2012.”

The pentagon-shaped memorial will feature twin towers on the top to honor Sept. 11 victims, with soldier’s names inscribed along the sides. Brick pavers will surround the monument and can be bought and personalized with messages as well.

“Phil has such a passion for this memorial and I love the desire he has to give back to our local veterans and our community,” BIGGBY store owner, Dave Danyko, said. “After meeting him, I immediately felt compelled to help, both as a member of the community and as a small business owner. When people can work together like this, goals get accomplished and good things happen.”

For more information on the memorial or to donate, please contact Shelby Township Disabled American Veterans post 129 at: (586) 739-5267.

About BIGGBY COFFEE®
East Lansing, Mich.-based BIGGBY® COFFEE opened a single store in March of 1995 based on the founding principle that coffee-lovers and the coffee-curious alike would benefit from a less pretentious approach to the standard gourmet café paradigm. BIGGBY COFFEE introduced connoisseur-worthy drinks with pronounceable names like Teddy Bear and Caramel Marvel, and barista staff surprised guests with simple gestures like free kazoos and bouncy balls for no other reason than to brighten their day. The “Big ‘B’” on the orange background caught on, and today BIGGBY COFFEE has 140 cafes open or under contract across seven states including: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, Wisconsin and Texas. For more information, visit www.biggby.com.